Memoirs of a Scandalous Red Dress is the fifth literary fiction book in the Bachelor Chronicles Series by author Elizabeth Boyle.
Lady Philippa Knolles has been in love with Captain Thomas “Dash” Dashwell since he first kissed her on a smuggler’s beach near Hastings. Pippin has a chance to resume his scandalous love affair with Dash. But the man from that first kiss and the man she finds again years later are hardly the same.
Tucked away in the back of her wardrobe was a red dress, the one she wore long ago to win his heart.. It had enough lingering memories inside it to rekindle. A passion she never forgets?
Like many I was frightened off of this book by the timeline. The book and the series was sidelined and stuck in my…maybe read it sometime file.
I am glad I waited. When I finished Black Gown the thought that Dash and Pippin would spend 20 years apart was unthinkable.
Coming back to this book after time had passed was like rediscovering a first love.
The story is unique, the characters complex, and the plot unexpected.
Yes, there were a few lines tread close to for the romance genre, but imo none of the “rules” were broken.
Red Dress explored something you rarely see in the genre, a lost love that is reclaimed not after a month or a year, but a lifetime.
It was real, it was poignant, and it was an excellent book.
As a stand alone I would give it 5 stars, but as part of a series there was a huge disconnect. Which has unfortunately resulted in many unhappy fans.
If you love the series, but like me set this one aside.
